The Eisa Ulen Blog is known for tackling tough issues affecting modern society. The post that follows, penned by education writer Brianna Meiers, introduces an issue that many readers should find interesting — the reforms that have been proposed or enacted around the country in response to growing criticism of teacher tenure. Brianna spends most of her time researching educational programs on the web for teachers, and follows educational policy carefully.
The Changing Nature of Modern Schools: Teacher Tenure Questioned
The idea of ?teacher tenure,? once a mainstay of the American education system, is increasingly coming under fire as school districts across the country look for ways to slash funds while improving student learning and test scores. This is a rough time for the education sector. There is less money than ever before, and student performance is waning across the board. Teacher tenure has become something of an easy target, in that it can satiate critics on both sides of the aisle: reducing tenure makes it easier to fire teachers who are ineffective, rousing the education improvement crowd, while eliminating de facto paychecks can be a great way to cut down on district expenditures. Things are rarely so cut and dry, though. In the states that have banned or delayed teacher tenure, the results have been mixed at best?leading many to wonder whether there isn?t a better way.
Most agree that the introduction of teacher tenure was a positive step for U.S. education. Post World War I at the height of the suffragist movement, the school system in many parts of the country was in shambles. Teachers were routinely fired because they were women, for their race or their age, or simply because the principal had a friend he wanted to elevate instead. Tenure provided a necessary protection, allowing educators to do their jobs without fear of unjustified termination.
Though corruption and unfair hiring decisions still happen today, the landscape has largely shifted in the near-century since the protections were introduced. The biggest concern now is not whether teachers will be wrongly terminated, but rather whether the system is protecting those who are inadequate. Firing teachers who are tenured is usually very costly and quite difficult, which some argue instills a culture of mediocrity.
Timelines vary by jurisdiction, but in most places teachers earn tenure after but a few years on the job. As such, a young educator just out of college who enters the classroom with a high degree of energy and enthusiasm may find herself offered a lifetime slot before she even reaches her 25th birthday. For most this is an incentive, and can make the field more attractive to the nation?s best and brightest students. A much smaller percentage see this permanency as an invitation to tone things down, though; to grow more lax and to stop innovating. Most of the recent tenure debates have honed in on this minority.
New Jersey became the latest state to issue steep tenure restrictions with legislation signed into law in August 2012. Under the new provisions, teacher tenure is no longer automatically guaranteed in exchange for service, but rather must be earned on the basis of student reviews, test scores, and peer evaluations. The law also impacts those who are already tenured: these teachers must seek to have their credentials renewed by working under careful observation for four years. They must earn ?effective? or ?highly effective? rankings for at least two years in a row, else face revocation of tenure.
A similar program in Washington state seeks to delay tenure by forcing new teachers to ?earn their keep? and prove their value before being guaranteed a lifetime of educating children. Idaho went a step further by placing an outright ban on tenure for any new teacher, though this measure was challenged on the November 2012 ballot.
There is little doubt that education in this country is in dire need of reform. Making it harder for teachers to get and keep their jobs may not be the best way forward, though. Some teachers have abused the tenure system, but most do not. Likewise, some teachers are below average, while again most are not. Removing the bad seeds is essential, but only if they can be replaced by more effective alternatives. Reforming the tenure process might be the best way forward, but legislators and budget officers need to carefully look for new ways of making the teaching profession attractive if education is going to improve. Simply making cuts and forcing evaluations is not likely to effect lasting change.
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